Welcome to the 1st Church of the Corolla

My daughter, Annika, and I have been on a road trip to Colorado to attend the graduation of her cousin, Jesse, in Aspen.  We’ve had a fun time with family and are now on the way back to Minneapolis.  We had to travel on a Sunday to get back in time for me to catch my train to ND.  Sooooo, we attended a rather unique church this morning…the 1st Church of the Corolla (to quote my daughter) with the guest speaker, John Piper (via Podcast).  The worship team included Kari Jobe, David Crowder, and Hillsong (among others) and the guest singers were none other than Annika and Paula Nyman!  What a precious time it was!  We prayed, sang worship songs, and listened to God’s Word being preached.  The theme of the sermon was “God is most glorified in me when I am most satisfied in Him!”  (Philippians 1:18-23).  How appropriate this was as I am praying for God to reveal Himself to me through His son Jesus and give me opportunities to  “live my life in Jesus’ name”.

And on that subject….I have to be careful what I pray for.  We got a BIG chance to practice this today as we were sailing along I-80 in Nebraska (at 78 miles per hour) and had a flat tire!  God definitely watched over us, as there were no other cars near us and we could ease over to the shoulder without rolling the car or any other mishap.  It must have been at least 90 degrees with a hot wind blowing.  Can you picture it?  Two females on the side of the road trying in vain to get the darn tire off.  As we pumped the jack to raise the car, it sank into the hot asphalt and did not raise the car like we needed.  With a lot of prayer, frantic calls to Kris and the nearest service station, who sent a man out on a Sunday afternoon to finish changing the tire for us, and some patient waiting, we made it.   We did not get near as far as we wanted today because there was no place open to buy a new tire at that time on a Sunday evening!  We just missed getting to Wal-mart before they closed for the night and the one Auto Parts Store that was open did not sell tires.  Thank God for kind people (the guys at this store) who tried to call around to find a place to buy a tire…all to no avail.  So, we are ready for a good night’s sleep and an early start tomorrow. 

While we were waiting on the side of the road, we were trying to “count it all joy” and find the positive side of all this.  God certainly gave us an opportunity to practice patience, be alive to tell about the experience, and be kind to the lady at Wal-mart who said everyone was going home and they were not allowed any overtime, minutes after the closing time!

Hallelujah to the Lamb!  Our thanks and praise goes to you, creator God!

See ya’ later…
paula  jo